The incident unfolded in Town Two, Khayelitsha, where the police intercepted the gang, leading to a fierce exchange of gunfire.
According to police spokesperson Brigadier Novela Potelwa, the suspects opened fire when approached by law enforcement, prompting the police to retaliate and resulting in the deaths of the eight individuals. The operation also led to the arrest of five other suspects.
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The sting operation was part of ongoing efforts by the police to combat the surge of cash-in-transit heists in the area, a crime that has been on the rise across South Africa.
At the scene, the police confiscated a significant cache of weapons, including seven AK-47 rifles, two R5 rifles, one R4 rifle, one Dashprod rifle, two 9mm pistols, three improvised explosive devices, and numerous magazines filled with rounds of ammunition.
“The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) detectives are hard at work with investigations and following up on additional information,” said Potelwa.
A senior police officer involved in the investigation revealed that one of the deceased suspects hailed from KwaZulu-Natal and had been linked to several cash-in-transit robberies in that province. The gang, according to the officer, had allegedly planned to execute a major robbery in Cape Town before retreating to KZN to evade capture.
A local resident, who asked to remain anonymous, described the scene to Daily Maverick, likening it to a war zone.
“It was war,” she said. “Over 50 shots were fired, and it sounded like the movies my children watch with soldiers. We are relieved that the police intervened before they could carry out their plan. We live in fear here because after committing robberies, they often shoot in the sky to celebrate.”
Another community member said the police should not stop and must make Khayelitsha safe again.
“We miss watching children play outside safely,” she said. “We miss seeing police respected and criminals getting arrested for any crimes they commit. The police must flush out criminals.”
Swift action welcomed
The swift action by the police has been welcomed by Premier Alan Winde and Western Cape MEC for Police Oversight and Community Safety, Anroux Marais. Winde praised the SAPS for their coordinated and intelligence-driven approach, which he said prevented potential bloodshed in the community.
“I am very grateful no police officers or innocent members of the public were harmed while conducting this operation,” Winde stated.
“This is proof that when coordinated, intelligence- and evidence-based policing are implemented, violent crime can be prevented. However, I am deeply concerned about the calibre of weaponry the suspects were allegedly armed with. I shudder to think of the bloodshed that would have been caused had they been used in our communities. We must work closer together and do everything possible to take all illegal weapons off our streets to make our communities safer.”
Over the past week the police have maintained a firm stance against violent criminals, with 17 suspects fatally shot in KwaZulu-Natal alone. This has underscored the ongoing and dangerous battle between law enforcement and organised crime in South Africa, although critics have questioned the high number of deaths at the hands of KZN police.
Read more: KZN police in deadly shootouts with suspected criminals
DA MP and the party’s spokesperson on police, Ian Cameron, visited the crime scene in Khayelitsha shortly after the shootout. He expressed concern about the precision with which these criminals operate.
“It is abundantly clear that these criminals operate with military precision, and the execution of their criminal activities are backed with meticulous and long-term planning. The SAPS and crime intelligence must focus on bringing these malicious plans to light and nip them in the bud before lives are lost,” Cameron said.
Police Minister Senzo Mchunu also praised the police’s swift action, but cautioned Cameron against visiting active crime scenes.
“As politicians, we need to avoid crime scenes,” Mchunu warned. “There is no role for us there, especially when it is live. We can go tomorrow, meet the police who were involved… and say well done.”
Mchunu said the police were not trigger-happy but were defending themselves against heavily armed criminals
“We can’t be complaining about everything,” he said. “You complain about the high rates of crime and condemn the police for not acting. They defend themselves when they act … by shooting at [armed criminals]. We come forward, but we say nothing about communities that, from time to time, fall victim to such killing gangs.”
Mchunu was briefing the media in Boksburg on Tuesday on the ANC NEC meeting concerning crime and police. The police minister said he would meet with groups who had concerns about shootouts between the police and suspected criminals.
“If you point a gun and you shoot at police you must not expect that police are not going to respond to you. They need to defend themselves. Police are human beings, they are not stones,” he said.
On Monday, KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi said, “Do not be discouraged by self-proclaimed experts or analysts who find relevance only when they speak badly about the police.
“Such people never experienced the dangers on the streets that you patrol on a 24-hour basis. I urge you to ignore the noise and execute your constitutional mandate with professionalism. Criminals who challenge the authority of the state by shooting at police officers should be made to feel the wrath of the law, all within the confines of the Constitution.”
Lack of intelligence
Mary de Haas, an honorary research fellow at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s School of Law and a member of the Navi Pillay Research Group on justice and human rights, said this mass shooting was a symptom of the failure of proper policing, which starts with Crime Intelligence identifying criminals and guns before they use them.
“I suppose are they taking a leaf out of our book, mistakenly thinking it is a way to stop criminality,” she said. “But it doesn’t, as even if they were all armed criminals posing a threat to police, one needs to get to the syndicates behind them who supply the guns and ammunition.”
De Haas said Crime Intelligence needed to have an extensive informer network, but it was dysfunctional and did not have enough money to pay informers to risk their lives.
“I am finalising a call for an inquiry. Constitutionally, police are mandated to prevent crime, not wait for it to happen and for that, you need proper intelligence. But ours is badly politicised, which is a huge problem.” DM